The Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center
BackFor giant panda see : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Panda For red panda see : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Panda The giant panda has a very distinctive black-and-white coat, and adults measure around 1.5m long and around 75cm tall at the shoulder. Males can weigh up to 115 kg (253 pounds). Females are generally smaller than males, and can occasionally weigh up to 100 kg (220 pounds). Giant pandas live in mountainous regions, such as Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Tibet. While the Chinese dragon has been historically a national emblem for China, since the latter half of the 20th century, the panda has also become an informal national emblem for China, and its image is found on many Chinese gold coins. Despite being taxonomically a carnivore, the panda has a diet that is overwhelmingly herbivorous. The giant panda eats shoots and leaves, almost exclusively bamboo. This is an evolutionarily recent adaptation, or perhaps just a very awkward one; pandas lack the proper enzymes to digest bamboo efficiently, and thus derive little energy and little protein from it. They retain decidedly ursine teeth, and will readily eat meat, fish, and eggs when available, but their sluggish speeds, a consequence of their mainly bamboo diet, ensure that these more energy-rich foods are seldom available to them outside of captivity. In captivity, zoos typically maintain the pandas' bamboo diet, though some will provide specially formulated biscuits or other dietary supplements. Unlike most bears but like most subtropical mammals, the giant panda does not hibernate. For many decades the precise taxonomic classification of the panda was under debate as both the giant panda and the distantly related red panda share characteristics of both bears and raccoons. However, genetic testing suggests that giant pandas are true bears and part of the Ursidae family, though they differentiated early in history from the main ursine stock. The giant panda's closest bear relative is the Spectacled Bear of South America. (Disagreement remains about whether or not the red panda belongs in Ursidae; the raccoon family, Procyonidae; or in its own family, Ailuridae.) Giant pandas are an endangered species, threatened by continued habitat loss and by a very low birthrate, both in the wild and in captivity. Poaching is uncommon; killing a panda was punishable in China by death until a 1997 law changed the penalty to 20 years imprisonment. The giant panda has an unusual paw, with a "thumb" and five fingers; the "thumb" is actually a modified sesamoid bone, which helps the panda to hold the bamboo while eating. Stephen Jay Gould wrote an essay about this, then used the title The Panda's Thumb for a book of essays concerned with evolution and intelligent design. The giant panda has a short tail, approximately 15 cm long. The giant panda has long been a favourite of the public, at least partly on account of the fact that the species has an appealing baby-like cuteness that makes it seem to resemble a living teddy bear. The fact that it is usually depicted reclining peacefully eating bamboo, as opposed to hunting, also adds to its image of innocence. Though the giant panda is often assumed docile because of their cuteness, they have been known to attack humans, usually assumed to be out of irritation rather than predatory behavior. Giant pandas can usually live to be 20-30 years old while living in captivity. 名称溯源 在中文裡，这个动物有两种名称：熊猫和猫熊。其来历的一种说法说1869年，法國天主教传教士阿尔芒·戴维德（Armand David）認識了熊猫后，給"熊貓"定名為"黑白熊"，归属于熊科。兩年後，動物學家進一步考查，研究它屬於貓熊科，將它進一步定名為"貓熊"。1940年代，在重慶北碚博物館展舉辦了一次動物標本展覽。当时，定名为猫熊，意思是它的脸型似猫那樣圓胖，但整个體型又像熊。由于中文使用者傳统上通常都习惯右到左的寫法，所以當時猫熊一词是以右到左的方式書寫。在標準中文文法裡，形容詞通常都被置放在名詞的前面。由於熊貓被一般人認為屬於熊科，因此貓是形容詞，熊是名詞。故，貓熊一詞在中文文法上是對的。到1940年代，很多中文使用者已經開始習惯左到右的中文讀法，所以當時重慶北碚博物館所展示的"猫熊"字样就被大家誤讀成熊猫。从此以后，熊猫一詞便开始先在四川一帶流行起来，长此以往向傳讹誤，一至到今天，大部分的人也就習慣了使用熊猫一詞。 然而也有人认为这种说法是不对的。熊猫和猫熊两种说法从一开始就没有定论。[1] 熊猫一詞在中国大陆、馬來西亞和新加坡是最普及的稱呼，而在台灣，熊貓比較常用，不過，亦有人稱貓熊。 [编辑]物种信息 VALPARD FILMS http://valpardfilms.free.fr
Category: Animals
Uploaded: September 3rd, 2006 @ 1:48 am
Author: valpard
Length: 01:09
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Tags: ailuropoda chengdu melanoleuca panda pandas دب パンダ 四川 成都 熊猫 판다
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